Waltz of the Flowers
by Drones-of-Innocence
Summary: The best gift that Peach ever received for Christmas was the Nutcracker doll that Uncle gave to her as a child. Inspired by the art on the cover by Magicarnelian, "Peach and the Nutcracker."


O~o~O

There was snow.

The snow was so thick that it seemed to swallow the whole land. A frigid hush fell over Christmas Eve night, shutting out the sun until the world was nothing but blue snow and black sky.

But, to the East, just over the horizon, was a glimmer of gold. Warm light that blazed bright through the night. Upon closer inspection, the light was actually from a house. The soft orange washed over the snow through shadows cast by the windows. From within, a fire roared, like all the songs and tales tell. The entire house was decorated with green and red and white and gold. An angel doll smiled knowingly from the top of an evergreen. Dinner had been hearty, and the children inside laughed and played. They cast continuous glances to the shiny gifts that sat below the tree.

There was a girl who wasn't playing with the other children. Instead, she sat upstairs in her room, gazing out the window to the cold world below. Her blue eyes reflected the silvery glass. She could hear the others, but she felt no desire to join them.

She wore her best dress, and her hair was all done up with a big pink bow. Her feet were tucked daintily underneath her, and her arms were crossed over her chest while she shuddered every once in a while. The house was warm. But the night was cold.

The decorations had not excited her like they once did. Her heart no longer pounded at the thrilling thought of a generous man appearing in the dead of night to leave gifts. She did not desire to join her cousins and family friends who played endless games downstairs. No, she had not felt that childish anticipation and glee for a long time. But she didn't want to ruin anyone's fun. So she sat alone, wondering why Christmas just didn't make her feel so happy anymore.

The snow blanketed the world, completely obscuring the lands she should have known by heart. There was no sign of life anywhere, as far as she could tell. Just complete white desolation. She felt just the same.

"Hey! Peach!" a voice cut through her musing, and Peach turned with a start. "What are you still doing up here? Uncle has presents for us!"

She blinked. "Oh, Daisy."

The younger girl stood in the doorway, barefoot, and having already managed to require a bandaid on her elbow and knee. Her yellow dress was rumpled. She was breathless. Peach assumed she had been chasing the boys and showing them who was the boss. She smiled faintly at the thought.

Her best friend really was something else. "I'm sorry. I'll come down right away." she spoke, but her voice had no energy in it. Seeing the excitement sparkle in Daisy's eyes, she felt bad for not trying a little harder to smile.

Daisy tilted her head with a small frown. "Are you okay?" she asked.

With the worry lines in her forehead, and the way she clutched her small hands close to her chest, Peach instantly felt worse. "Yes, I'm fine." she answered quickly, and came close so she could lead Daisy back downstairs. "I'm just a little tired. Here, let's go see what Uncle has for us."

The man they both knew as Uncle was not actually hers or Daisy's. Peach was never quite sure about his relationship to anyone in her family. Daisy was fairly certain he had no direct relation to her family either. Regardless, they had both known Uncle for as long as they could remember. Uncle came for every holiday. He brought the most wonderful gifts and always inspired the fondest memories in all of the children.

Perhaps a little bit of the Christmas spirit Peach had lost would be brought with him again. So, taking Daisy's hand, she skipped down the hall and down the stairs.

Her face lit up when she spotted him. "Uncle!" she called to him, but he didn't appear to hear her. He was speaking with the other children, both hands held behind his back. Surely he was hiding wonderful gifts, preparing to surprise everyone? Peach and Daisy quickly joined the others to see. Seeing that mischievous little grin on his face, the excitement that stirred among the others, Peach felt a hint of that Christmas Spirit that so eluded her.

Looking back, she had been exactly right. Uncle was the one responsible for all her happy memories of Christmas.

O~o~O

There was a Nutcracker.

Well, actually, there were two Nutcrackers.

The other children in the house had chosen the other dolls, the bigger ones. While they ran around and played with their new toys, Peach stared at the two Nutcrackers that were left. They had been left sitting under the Christmas tree, alone.

Despite herself, Peach felt bad for the little Nutcrackers. They were designed differently than the other soldiers. But that didn't make them worth less, right?

Daisy plopped down next to her on the floor, and Peach looked up from the Nutcrackers. "Oh! These guys are so little," Daisy giggled. "They're cute though. I like the green one."

Peach smiled, before her eyes fell back to the toys. One of them wore a grand green uniform, and Daisy picked him up. The other, which Peach found herself more drawn to, was dressed in regal red. Both of them had dark mustaches, and bright eyes. Whoever had created such dolls had taken great care to make their faces rounded and soft, not hard and cold like the other soldiers.

While the other children played war, imagining the decked halls to be under siege with bullets flying over their heads, Peach and Daisy were ignorant to such games. They treated their Nutcracker soldiers gently. "They look similar." Daisy observed, and held her soldier close to Peach's red one.

She nodded when she saw the resemblance in their faces. "Yes," she agreed. She wasn't sure how she knew, but she was certain that the two little soldiers were related to one another. They had to be. Peach and Daisy laughed together, holding their new little dolls.

"Ah, so you picked the commanders," a voice behind them spoke up. Peach turned with a start.

She broke into a smile when she recognized who it was. "Uncle Toadsworth!" she and Daisy exclaimed at the same time, and the old man gave a warm chuckle.

"Uncle Toadsworth, are these really commanders?" Daisy asked, holding up the green one. Peach looked between their dolls, and saw the decorations lining their uniforms. None of the other soldiers had such decorations. She looked back up at Uncle, just as curious.

Nodding sagely, Uncle offered his hands out, and the girls handed him the soldiers. He held them for a moment. While he knelt there before them, he looked at each of the doll's faces for a long moment. Peach thought she saw something more behind his eyes. Like the soldiers were familiar to him. Finally, he let out a long sigh and turned the dolls back to face the girls. Peach looked to see their rosy cheeks, their carved mustaches that just barely concealed soft smiles.

"These two command the troops of the Mushroom Kingdom." he tilted his head to indicate the soldiers that the other children were playing with, before he held up each of the nutcrackers. "They're brothers. This one, he is Luigi. He is the younger brother. This one is Mario. He's older by two years."

Looking back, Peach would have thought Toadsworth included that detail at the last second. She recalled sharing an amazed look with Daisy, because two years was, by some coincidence, the difference between them. Later, Peach would find that the detail was only for the sake of accuracy. Toadsworth always stuck by his facts. Always.

Uncle Toadsworth gave the nutcrackers back to the girls, and Peach looked upon hers with newfound wonder. Mario. She touched his face, fingers running along the grain of the wood. "You cannot have one without the other. To have one brother is to have the sun without the moon. To have winter without the spring." he explained to them.

"To have cookies without the milk," Daisy supplied with a big grin, and Peach covered her mouth when she started giggling.

Shaking his head, Uncle could only smile. "Yes. Exactly," he agreed. "It is very important that they are not separated." Although his expression was relaxed, his tone was serious.

They always had to be together. Peach looked down at her little soldier, at Mario, and then looked to Luigi. The smile fell from her face. "It must be hard," she spoke in a small voice, and Uncle blinked at her, his glasses shining in the Christmas lights. Daisy also turned to her, tilting her head. "The brothers, they must care about one another very much. They must have to fight a lot, don't they? They must worry so much about each other while they are fighting…" she trailed off, holding Mario in her lap.

Uncle reached out for her hand, and Peach looked up at him. "Well, yes. They do worry. But they know at the end of the day that they will come home and find one another safe. They trust one another more than they trust any other soul in the world." he soothed her. "Besides, they both have a very important mission."

Daisy scooted closer to Peach. "Mission?!" she yelled out, and shared a look with Peach. "What kind of mission?" her eyes sparkled.

Leaning closer and lowering his voice like it was a big secret, Uncle cast furtive looks left and right. Peach and Daisy looked on with wide eyes. "...Mario and Luigi have the most important mission in the world," he told them, and grinned. "They have to protect you, the Princesses!"

"Princesses!" Peach and Daisy squealed at the same time, and all three of them burst into laughter.

At the time, Peach had not believed he had been serious when Uncle called them Princesses. To every parent, or aunt or uncle or guardian, any little girl was automatically a Princess. It was the law of the land. That was what Peach had assumed, even at the time, because she was old enough to know it, but young enough to want to believe it anyway.

Because for that brief moment, Peach and Daisy were suddenly Princesses with two very brave soldiers to protect them. All was well with the world. Because Princess just meant Young Girl Who Wore Pretty Dresses And Played All Day, not a true monarch over a faraway Kingdom.

The best part about being a Princess was that Peach and Daisy could simultaneously play the role of Hero.

"I am Mario, commander of the Mushroom troops!" Peach declared, holding Mario up and posing like she thought a commander would.

"And I am Luigi, also commander of the Mushroom troops!" Daisy mirrored her, and they both tried to look very serious, despite smiles creeping up on both of them.

They eyed the other children, running around their imaginary warzone. "Together, we shall end the fighting!" Peach stood up and raised her chin. She could see Uncle with a broad smile out of the corner of her eye.

"And save the Princesses!" Daisy added. After holding their pose for a moment, imaginations running wild with adventure, they burst into laughter.

Peach wanted to run through the valleys of the Kingdom Mario and Luigi served. Of course the Mushroom Kingdom wasn't real, only a fairytale. But she could imagine a castle, and plains and deserts and forests and oceans and mountains all for her to traverse. The notion was romantic. She had to hurry, to run, because somewhere beyond the kingdom was a Princess to rescue. She could imagine those long days of travel, and nights spent sleeping under the stars. Surely the journey would be dangerous. But the only motivation needed was the desire to see the Princess safe, and the sight of the castle over the horizon when they could finally go home.

She was the Hero, and she was also the Princess. And when she was tired of playing either role, she could just go back to being Peach.

"Look," Uncle held up a small box that he pulled from nowhere. "This is a song that the brothers will know."

Cradling Mario in her elbow, Peach accepted the box, and frowned at it. Daisy leaned in close. The box was made of wood, the same wood as the Nutcrackers, and there was an eloquent design carved into the top. Peach carefully lifted the lid.

A tune began to play. "Oh!" she let out, sharing a smile with Daisy. The waltz that played was familiar to her in a way that she couldn't explain. The slow, lilting melody, the gentle pulse of the rhythm in three, the way the music moved made Peach absentmindedly sway back and forth. "I love it," she murmured.

Uncle nodded knowingly. He reached to replace the lid once more, cutting the song short, and Peach reluctantly surrendered the box back to him. "I'll keep this safe until the time comes for it to be yours," he promised her.

Until the time comes.

Those twinkling Christmas lights, the warm glow of the festive spirit, the happy smiles that surrounded her, those would all stay in Peach's memories. The sticky frosting of the cookies. Her little red stocking hanging over the fireplace. A mug of hot chocolate. The giggles bubbling up while she played with Daisy. The Nutcracker tucked under her arm for days because she never wanted to put him down.

These were all good feelings. She wished she had thought to enjoy it just a little longer, hang on to all the little moments as tightly as her little hands could, because they were so very precious to her.

But you only ever realize that you were living in the good times after they were already over.

The music box came to her on a cold Christmas Eve, seven years later.

The first gift of the holiday, and Peach instantly knew what it was when she saw the tag. Uncle no longer came to her house for Christmas. Not many others did. This year, the house would be quiet.

Still, she felt a rush in her heart as soon as she recognized the size and shape. She hadn't heard from Uncle in a long time, and she wasn't sure where he had gone. The rest of her family had spread out, leaving her alone in a house that was much too big for her. But for just a moment, as she stood there clutching the little music box, for just a moment she felt that spark of Christmas Spirit.

"You'll never guess what I got today," she phoned Daisy later, tracing all the designs in the box. "The music box, from all those years ago. Do you remember?"

Of course she did. They hadn't been so young.

The urge to play the music box didn't occur to her until she walked up the stairs into her room. She froze, her eyes on the little Nutcracker that stood in the darkness of her room, perched in perfect display on her shelf. Peach smiled and went to her old doll, lifting him up and gently dusting him off. "Hello there," she murmured to him. "I suppose it's about time the music box found its way back to you."

She set him back down, and the music box beside him. The snow pattered softly against her window. Lifting her hand, she opened the box, and listened to the melody run through.

The box played the song she knew, the song she always hummed under her breath while she worked, the song that played in the back of her mind when she was trying to sleep. It had been years since she heard the tune. And yet her mind had remembered it and preserved it so clearly for her.

With a small smile, she closed the music box.

"Goodnight, then." she told the Nutcracker, pressing a tiny kiss to the smooth wood of his cheek, before she turned to go to her bed.

Daisy would be coming by in the afternoon. Maybe they could go out and play in the snow like they did when they were kids. While she pulled the covers up, Peach's droopy eyes looked to the window, where the moonlight fell as delicately as the snow.

She was so very tired. All at once, an oppressive feeling weighed down on her, a feeling she might expect to have if she had not slept for years. Sleep came to her so abruptly that her entire body felt like the world was rising while she fell.

When she opened her eyes, the room was blue.

There had been a sound, a soft thump, but Peach blinked into the silence until she became certain that she had imagined hearing anything. Her window was black. Peach sat up slowly and rubbed her eyes. She couldn't read the clock.

She slid out of her bed, drowsy and slow. The floor was cold. She stepped into her slippers and felt around for her robe, draped over a chair at the front of the room. Once she tied the waistband of the robe around her, she shuffled toward her door. She supposed she had forgotten to close it before she went to bed.

The long hallway was the same blue of her room, as if it came from a light she couldn't find. The air felt different, thin and crisp. Peach thought she could smell a hint of snowdrop.

There was a bump at the front of the house.

The stairs creaked with almost every step, and Peach raised her eyes to look around the living room. She shivered. The shadows were frozen in place. She squinted, but she couldn't make out a figure through the darkness. Perhaps something had fallen over. She could wait to find it in the morning. She turned, and started to make her way back to her room.

As soon as she crossed the doorway, she immediately knew what was wrong.

The Nutcracker wasn't on the shelf.

The slippers weren't helping; her feet still felt very cold. Peach hurried to her dresser to find socks so she could put on her shoes, and then decided she may as well get dressed. She wasn't sure she would be able to fall back to sleep.

Feeling warmer in a thick shirt, Peach swept her hair over her shoulder and reached for a lantern. She glanced around her bedroom floor for the Nutcracker, but she couldn't find him. The orange glow of the candle light led her way through the frigid blue gloom of her house.

She walked with careful, measured footsteps. He couldn't have gone far. She checked every shadow, every corner, and every crevice that she knew. There wasn't any way he could have gone down the stairs, but she found herself walking down anyway.

She stopped.

The front door, there was light behind it. A blue glow, brighter than the moonlight.

A moth tapped against her lantern. She started toward the door.

The world outside was one that she didn't recognize. The horizon was different somehow. Mountains, she realized. She had never seen mountains before. The snow went on for miles and miles, and before her she could see a town. At least, civilization. The buildings were all round.

She frowned. She must be dreaming. Not once had she ever become aware of herself that she was dreaming, and the thought made her happy. She should go to that town and explore it, try to make sense of whatever her unconscious mind had conjured. The lantern led the way. She shivered, and wished her dream didn't have to be so cold.

As she approached the town, she could make out voices. She didn't think very much of them at first. Perhaps they were having a Christmas celebration in the night? But, as she got closer, it became clear to her that the voices were not happy.

Screaming, shouting. If she squinted through the snow, she could see figures running. But from what? In a brief moment of panic, Peach wondered if she should turn back. But she reminded herself that she was only dreaming, nothing could possibly hurt her in a dream. Steeling herself, she began to march toward the town. She had to have a brave face.

Maybe in this dream, she was the hero.

A man was running directly toward her. A man, but he wasn't exactly a man. He was very short. But he was also very familiar. He rather resembled a mushroom.

"Ah, hello!" she called for him, and he stopped. She couldn't make out his face through the snow. She clutched her free hand close to her chest. "Hello there! Is something wrong?"

He didn't answer. She started to walk closer. "I'm only here to help," she explained, and raised her lantern when she was close enough to see him.

"Your highness?" he asked.

Peach blinked. "Excuse me?"

His glasses reflected the light. His eyes were wide. "My Princess," he spoke in a frightened murmur, and came close, reaching up for her hand. "Oh, sweet Princess Peach. Did I not tell you that you had to keep the brothers together, always?"

She heard a cry from the town. A roar. Thunderous footsteps and fire. "Uncle?" she asked. "Uncle Toadsworth?"

He clasped her hand and nodded sadly. "This is all my fault. He's fighting all alone. He can't hold off the Koopa King by himself, he needs his brother. It's been so long since he's been awake…" He trailed off and shook his head. "It's no use. We couldn't have predicted when the Koopa King would come. I'm sorry, but you have to go back. Go back to the house, and you will be safe. He will protect you until the end."

Toadsworth tried to urge her back. The fire in the town grew bigger and bigger, blazing in her eyes. "Who is? Who is protecting me? Who is fighting?" she asked, and flinched when she heard another cry.

"You know him. He has watched over you all this time. I sent you the box because we needed him and his brother, but it's just him. He's doing all he can. Now come, Princess, let's go back to the house." Toadsworth gestured back to the house, but Peach shook her head. "The Koopa King is stronger than we thought. It's a miracle he's held on for this long. I fear that even with his brother, we could not defeat the King."

"No, wait." she said. "Maybe I can help him."

Toadsworth shook his head. "Please, Princess, if you go to that town, you'll die. You have to stay alive. He's doing everything he can to save you, do you understand? Your life matters more than anything."

She kept her stare fixed on the town. This was all a dream, right? She could be anything she wanted to be in a dream. She could be a hero. And heroes always put their own lives on the line for the sake of everyone else.

"I'm going into the town. I want to help." she narrowed her eyes.

"Princess, please!" Toadsworth yelled after her as she took off, running through the snow. The wind ripped anything else he had to say beyond where she could hear.

Her stride was clumsy, her legs weren't used to taking her through snow that was ankle deep. As she ran, the snow seemed to get thicker and thicker. She pushed onward. The lantern somehow kept its flame. By the time she got close to the town, she was bounding through snow that was up to her knees.

The fire and the roaring was further in. Peach held up the lantern and hesitated. Then, with a deep breath, she reminded herself it was all a dream. It all had to be.

There was a sharp cry up ahead. The sound of wood splintering. Peach blinked, and hurried into the town.

She found the Town square, and whipped her head right and left, looking for any signs of life. Despite the fire in the distance, the cool blue of the Town square appeared untouched, if abandoned. The sight was sad to Peach. These people should have been inside celebrating the holidays, not running from a monster.

Only when she started at a hurried jog did she notice a figure up ahead. The figure was glowing orange. Peach squinted as she approached, and quickly realized the figure was glowing because the figure was on fire. "Oh, stars!" she broke into a run.

The figure was hopping up and down, running in little circles. Peach could make out hands frantically patting the coat to put out the flames. "Oh my stars! Are you okay?" she hollered, but she was still too far. She wasn't sure if they even heard her.

By the time she got close enough to see the figure, the fire had been extinguished. Miraculously, the coat didn't appear to be burned at all. The blue glow of the night fell back on the town.

He was panting, resting his weight against a wall. Even with his head down, it was clear that he was shorter than she was. Peach slowed down to a walk, and kept going toward him until the light from her lantern cast a shadow behind him. "Hello," she said gently. "Is everything alright?"

The man looked up at her. As soon as he saw her, his eyes went wide with horror.

"Oh," he started to say, and blinked several times up at her. The snow picked up. He pushed himself from the wall, and started toward her. His footsteps were slow and faltering. He had a slight limp. "Oh, my Princess. You should not be here." His voice was thick and hurt.

Struck by the familiarity of his face, Peach tilted her head and watched him. She knew the little buttons on that red coat. She knew that nose and those cheeks.

He stopped an arm's length away. The orange light of the lantern reflected in his eyes. Without thinking, Peach reached out and touched his face. She felt the warm skin of his cheek beneath her thumb. Not wood. And yet, she knew that he was her soldier. "Mario." she murmured.

He closed his eyes to her touch, and only opened them when he put his gloved hand over hers. "You remember my name," his voice caught in his throat, and he looked up at her with a sad smile.

How could he think she would have forgotten? Peach only smiled and looked at him, marveling at the new form he had taken. No longer was he a doll that could sit on her shelf, he was a man. A living, breathing man. "Of course I do." she told him. She wondered why her Nutcracker was all the way out in the snow. The breeze blew right through her, and she shuddered. "It's you, isn't it? Uncle said you were here fighting alone. I wanted to come help."

Mario shook his head, and glanced over his shoulder when there was a distant, thunderous crash. "You should not be here." he said again, and pulled a yellow cape from nowhere. "Here, are you cold? Come with me," he reached up and pulled the cape around her shoulders before she could say anything, and started to lead her back the way she came.

The limp was a little more obvious when he walked with her. Peach tried to slow down, but he pushed the pace. "Wait, Mario, I- I have so many questions! You're my Nutcracker. Uncle said you were fighting, who are you fighting? You're hurt, maybe you should come with me back to the house. I can help you there."

With a sharp shake of his head, Mario abruptly stopped and seized both of her shoulders. The terror in his face was heightened by the shadows of the lantern. "You have to promise me something." he spoke with grave urgency. Shaken, Peach could only nod. "Promise me that you will away from here. Run as fast as you can. You might have time. I can hold him off for a little while. Promise me that you will get out of here alive."

He reached up with one hand as if to touch her face. Instead, he ended up stroking some of her hair out of her eyes. His expression was wrought with despair. "Please," he whispered. "I can't let anything happen to you, my Princess…"

There was a roar a good distance behind him, and he closed his eyes and backed away from her. His expression hardened into something cold and resigned as he looked at the ground. He turned around, just as the massive silhouette came into view, bringing fire with it. Peach's eyes widened. "What is that?" she asked, holding the lantern close to her chest.

"The Koopa King." Mario growled, and clenched his fists. "Please, Princess, you have to run!"

"Mario, wait-!" Peach shouted, but Mario already took off. He was headed straight for the monster.

She stood on the edge of a blue, dreamlike world. As she faced the cusp of the orange, fiery realm, Peach felt like the heat on her face was too real. She backed up a step, and then another. She saw Mario leap head first into battle with the massive beast. This had to be a dream, right?

Her toes were going numb from running around in the snow. She clutched the yellow cape around her, and felt the rippling heatwaves beginning to reach her. The edge of fire and ice.

The monster, the Koopa King, he reared back and struck Mario out of the air. He was fighting all alone for her sake. She could just make out his silhouette get back to his feet to face the King. The fires burned, the buildings all around him collapsed. One man before a massive monster.

Before she could decide what to do, she saw green. A dark blur ran past her. Another figure hurtling toward the beast. Peach felt her heart jump to her throat.

"Peach!"

She turned, eyes wide with the cape clutched around her, to see a woman stumble to a stop. Peach lowered the lantern.

"Daisy?" she asked.

Panting with her hands on her knees, Daisy nodded. "This is...This is turning into a really weird dream," she gasped. Despite her apparent exhaustion, she tilted her head up with a wry smile.

"You're telling me," Peach murmured, and turned back to see the Koopa King. Two figures were engaged in fiery battle with beast. Mario, she could barely pick him out through the flames, but there was the other one. She knew him too. "Luigi, you brought Luigi." the name dawned on her in an instant.

The flames ahead swirled and grew. Daisy nodded, and straightened up. "Yeah. My Nutcracker just came to life and started looking for yours. Uncle told us they always had to be together. He kept calling you and I Princess, and just...It's so weird. I'm convinced this has to be a lucid dream or something."

Peach blinked. "How strange. I was thinking the same thing." Could it be possible that she was sharing a dream with Daisy? Daisy seemed so self aware, where the others hadn't questioned anything about the strange dreamscape of hers. Mario, Uncle, their new forms had both only ever existed in the blue world of her sleeping mind.

They both raised their eyes to the Koopa King. His rampage across the town was spreading as fast as the fire, consuming everything in its wake. Peach bit her lip, but stood her ground.

"He told me that we should run." Daisy came up beside her, and crossed her arms. She gave a sideways glance with a crooked grin.

With a nod, Peach watched as both of the brothers worked together to try and drive the monster back. But the King was just so huge compared to the two soldiers. Clutching her hands together to hold the lantern, Peach looked down at the snow, at all of the footsteps around them.

"Do you remember that Christmas, all those years ago?" she asked in a small voice. "Do you remember how we used to play pretend?"

Daisy blinked, and then nodded. Her posture relaxed. She turned a little to face Peach. All the way down the road, the Koopa King razed the land in his battle.

The sky glittered with stars that Peach had never seen before, despite all of the fire and ice warring below on the earth. "Do you remember how we could be the Princesses or the Heroes?" she looked to their Nutcrackers fighting with a wistful smile. There wouldn't be time to run. No matter how the brothers fought, the beast was still advancing.

Daisy caught on with a wide grin, and nodded. She may have grown up. But she hadn't changed at all. "Let's go play Hero," she raised her chin.

When they both took off running toward the Koopa King, it occurred to Peach that they didn't have to choose roles. They could be both Princesses and Heroes. What was there to stop them? Only their own doubts and fears, she thought.

"Princess!"

Peach recognized the horrified cry to her left, and she looked up to see Mario turn away from the King. His hesitation cost too much.

She couldn't have warned him in time, even if she saw it coming. The Koopa King snarled and moved faster than anyone could blink. By the time she raised her hand and tried to call out, Mario was already struck down.

"No! Mario!" the voice came from her right. Luigi. Peach whipped her head up, only to see Luigi staring at Mario in dismay. The sight of his brother distracted him for a moment too long.

The Koopa King reared his giant claws back, and sent Luigi flying.

Peach and Daisy yelled out.

The two fallen figured lay beside one another. One on his back, and one on his front. Both of their Nutcrackers lay in the snow, the fire blazing inches before them. Peach and Daisy looked upon them with wide eyes.

The Koopa King tossed his head back and let out a deafening roar. Peach resisted the urge to cover her ears, and looked to the brothers. Mario's hand twitched. Reaching for Luigi. And then he was still.

Looking at his limp hand resting across the ground, Peach felt her blood run colder than the snow. "No," she said, stumbling toward them. "No, please."

Daisy clambered after her, and Peach dropped to her knees in between the brothers. Her hands were shaking too much for her to tell if they were still alive. She only just noticed the slightest movement of Mario's chest. "No, don't go," she gasped, touching Luigi's shoulder and the back of Mario's head. "Please, come back. We need you. Please, don't leave us now."

"Wake up!" Daisy shook Luigi, with her voice strained and her hands shaking. "Come on, get up. You have to get up."

The ground shook with the Koopa King's every step. He leered down at them.

Squinting up at him, Peach gritted her teeth and leaned over Mario to shield him. "I won't let you hurt them anymore." The fires were coming closer. She could feel her skin burning.

"You," the King rumbled, the light flickering across his fangs. His red eyes gleamed. "Foolish little girl. Did you really believe you could stop war? You have no power. Your soldiers have fallen. The Kingdom is mine." The inside of his mouth glowed. The back of his throat ignited. He would burn everything. "You have played pretend all this time. Go back to your dolls, little Princess. There is no place for you here."

Peach looked to Daisy, and then back to the King. The flames were spreading. Buildings collapsed. Fire and snow swirled together. The wind sent sparks flying over their heads.

The words came to her, words that she had never heard before, but words that she knew by heart. "This is my Kingdom. You have no power here when my eyes are open, King Koopa." she spoke, raising her voice over the destruction.

Daisy frowned at her, but looked down when Luigi stirred in her arms. At the same moment, Mario's eyes fluttered. Peach wasn't quite sure what happened either. But she gathered Mario into her arms and held him close. Her doll had watched over her all this time. And now she had to protect him.

The King faltered. "What?" the roar resounded through the town, across the plains and the mountains. He took a step back from them. The flames receded like ocean waves. "This is not how the story goes! You're the Princess, you're supposed to be helpless without your soldiers!"

Facing the King with her back straight, Daisy glared up at him. The wind rushed up around them. "This is our story. Not yours." she said coldly.

Grinning, Peach puffed out her chest and nodded. "And we decide how it ends."

The dream would not become a nightmare. "Princess," she heard a weak voice, and looked down to see that Mario had come to. Beside her, Daisy was smiling as Luigi blinked up at her. Peach turned to her soldier, and stroked his hair from his face.

His hat was on the ground. She picked it up and dusted off the snow. "There you are," she fixed it on his head, just as he managed to sit up. His eyes shimmered in the light of her dying lantern. His spirit was renewed.

For a moment, he considered her, his expression softening into a tender look. The stare he fixed her with nearly make her forget about the monster looming over their heads. He had such a sweet smile. "Thank you," he told her earnestly. His hand came up to her face, like before, but he couldn't quite bring himself to touch her. He hesitated. And his hand fell back to his side.

Peach was aware that her face had become a little warm, and her heart started to beat faster. Before she could manage to speak, Mario looked to Luigi, and they both started to stand up. The Koopa King stumbled back a massive step. The ground trembled beneath them all.

Practically before she could blink, Mario offered to help her up. His gentle grin smoothed away her fear. She reached up toward him, and then stopped. She was wearing gloves. White, satin gloves that she had never seen before. Looking down her arm, and then down to herself, she gasped as she realized she was wearing a gown. The rosy dress reminded her of her favorite one that she wore when she was young, albeit much more elegant and mature.

"What is this?" she asked, and glanced up to see that Daisy had come to a similar revelation with a gold dress.

Mario nodded knowingly with his hand in hers. He bowed his head for a moment. "My Princess," he said, and pressed a small kiss on her knuckles.

Too stunned to react for a moment, Peach could only blink at him. "Oh," she finally let out, and Mario gave a soft chuckle. When he looked at her, she saw nothing but fondness in his kind eyes.

"We can finish him off now." he said, and shared a glance with Luigi before looking to the Princesses. "Thanks to you both."

Luigi smiled at both Peach and Daisy. "Yes. Thank you, for taking good care of us."

He looked to Mario, and Mario nodded to him. Together, they turned to the Koopa King. The soldiers started to march together through the fire and the snow.

Peach frowned; his words held too much of a resemblance to a farewell. "Wait!" she started to say. She just caught a glimpse of the brothers turning back to face her, but she flinched when the Koopa King roared and slammed his fists into the ground. The impact caused the snow to fly up all around them. Peach reached up to shield her eyes, and squinted. "I can't see them!" she tried to raise her voice over the wind, only to realize she couldn't even see Daisy.

She picked up her lantern. Though, as soon as she raised it, the light was snuffed out. Peach jumped when she saw flashes of orange through the snow ahead, like fiery lightning. Despite the dress, she was still wrapped up in the yellow cape that Mario had given her. She huddled into it and blinked snow out of her eyes.

Tossing the lantern to the ground, Peach reached out and stumbled toward where she thought Daisy was. "Daisy!" she called out, and she could have sworn she heard her name over the howling, biting wind.

They ran into each other. Daisy immediately seized Peach's arms. "We have to help them," she insisted, and Peach nodded.

Turning, they both looked into the storm that was glowing and burning from the inside. They hooked their arms together. And they started walking toward the King.

The brothers hadn't moved very far. Peach and Daisy recognized their silhouette. Mario was leading the way while Luigi kept right on his heels, holding a hand on his shoulder to assure they stayed together. They were talking to each other. But their voices were stolen by the wind. Peach started to hurry through the snow with Daisy, shielding her face with her arm.

Breaking through the snow, the soldiers and the Princesses all stopped before the Koopa King. The fire flared up. Red eyes glowed through the flurry of sparks. The King's growls rattled the ground, and vibrated in their chests. "I will burn everything!" he howled. "You'll see, you'll see what power I have!"

The brothers braced to run. Peach could see in their stance that they were prepared to fight, prepared to die to save them.

She looked up at the sky. The endless battle of fire and ice churned all around them, freezing and burning the air. But for just a moment, Peach caught a glimpse of light. The sun was rising on Christmas day.

Then, like she had seen Uncle and Mario do, she reached into nothing.

The brothers turned back to face her. Daisy stared. The Koopa King rumbled and thundered above them, as she pulled out the music box.

"There doesn't have to be a fight." Peach cradled the box in both of her hands, thumbing over the carved patterns in the wood. "Don't you see? Christmas is supposed to be a day of peace. Not war."

Her cape billowed out in the wind. Daisy came closer to her, and reached out with a small smile. Mario and Luigi looked at each other.

"No!" King Koopa bellowed. The Princesses flinched, and the brothers scrambled back toward them. Mario stood before Peach, and Luigi stood before Daisy, arms out to protect them.

Peach looked around, to Daisy, to their soldiers, and smiled at each of them despite her fear. She led Daisy's hands to the music box as well. "Do you remember? Uncle told us that this is a song that the brothers know," she said. "I think this is a song that can turn nightmares into sweet dreams."

Daisy's eyes flickered over the box, and then back up to Peach. She shuddered and nodded. "I think you're right." she grinned.

They each took a big breath. Then, together, they lifted the lid of the music box.

The winds slowed across the plains. The fire was swallowed by the snow. The Koopa King stumbled back, and fell down, but the snow softened his fall. The impact sent the snow up everywhere around them, and through burst of flurries, Peach found that she was blinded by the pure white of the new light upon the land.

She was aware that she had ducked down. But, as her eyes slowly adjusted, she realized she had clung to Mario.

They could still hear the song, but the music sounded faraway. Peach couldn't see the music box anymore. She blinked a couple of times, and looked around. The snow was settling over a town, unharmed by fire.

"What happened?" she asked, and looked down to Mario. He did not appear to mind her hands holding onto his shirt. His smile was soft and kind, like his eyes.

He let out a happy sigh, looked to Daisy and Luigi, and then to the town around them. "The nightmare is over. It is Christmas morning now." he told her.

Christmas. Peach could see the faint gold and red and green of the holiday lights through the windows where none had been before. She could hear laughter where there had been screaming before. "Christmas morning," she repeated, huddling a little further into the cape.

Mario nodded, and his smile became a little sad. "You ended the nightmare, Princess. And now, the dream will have to end, too." he glanced to the ground, and then to where her hands still grasped his shirt. He hesitated, and his voice went quiet. "Thank you. But I wish you did not have to go so soon…"

He placed his hands over hers, with a wistful look. Peach blinked. The soft blue haze of the world around her was growing brighter. "Do I have to go now?" she asked him. She found that as the edges of her vision became hazy, that she did not want to leave Mario there. She wanted to stay with him, see the holiday colors reflect in those big blue eyes, to stand close to him when the winter chill blew through her.

She already knew the answer by the reluctance in his eyes. At his nod, Peach looked off to the side. She could no longer see the outline of the town around them, or Daisy and Luigi. Just Mario, in a fading land. "Before you go," he started to say, his cheeks turning a little rosy. "Would you, ehm. Would you dance with me?"

"Dance?" Peach asked. The wind rose up, and she could still hear the faint song of the music box played by the wind and ice. A waltz in three.

Mario took a step back, and then offered his hand to her. "Waltz of the Flowers." he told her. "A song for you."

Looking down at his hand, and then back to his face, Peach reached up. She could see fractals of the snow reflected in the morning light. With a shy smile, she rested her hand in his. The sheer joy in his expression made the butterflies burst in her stomach. He guided her forward, and they moved together.

As they twirled in the snow, Mario never took his eyes off her. The world around her faded a little more. His hands were warm. "I will never forget about you, my Princess," he murmured, and she almost didn't hear him.

She was overcome with a great sadness, as she watched the color of his cheeks and the softness of his smile start to dissipate before her. The hollowness she felt was very reminiscent of her realization that she was losing the Christmas spirit, all those years ago. She gripped his hand tighter. Then, leading him into the next step, she leaned down toward him and pressed a kiss to his cheek.

He nearly stumbled. His cheeks flushed a bright red. Peach giggled while he blinked several times up at her, questions in his eyes that didn't need to be spoken. "My sweet Nutcracker," she whispered. "Tell me that you're not just a dream. Tell me that I'll see you again."

While they twirled round and round in that fading world, Mario just gave her a sad smile. His body became frigid and slow, like a dying wind up toy. Any words he would have spoken were lost to the song and the snow.

The cape. She snuggled deeper into the warmth. She could hear something. The world was so far from her. The hand she was holding and the arm around her waist disappeared.

O~o~O

Peach opened her eyes. There was a song playing.

Her room. Blinking blearily, Peach lifted her head just enough to see that she had left the music box open before she had gone to bed.

With a groan, she sat up, the yellow blanket falling off her shoulders. She dragged herself out of her warm bed to close the box. Silence filled the room, somehow louder than the song had been. The floor was cold. The sun was barely out, and it only occurred to Peach after a moment of rubbing her eyes what day it was.

"Merry Christmas," she said, to no one.

She felt sad, but she didn't know why. She assumed it was because she was by herself on Christmas morning, of all the days to be alone.

Alone for the holidays. Typical. At least Daisy would be by later. Peach trudged out of her room and down the stairs, thinking nothing of her empty shelf, devoid of a Nutcracker, straining to remember a wild dream that slipped her mind as soon as she opened her eyes.

The house was quiet. She started to make a big breakfast. The Christmas tree stood, barren, in the main room. She remembered a time when it had been so decorated that she could hardly tell the tree was green.

The doorbell rang as soon as she took her first sip of coffee.

"Surprise!" Daisy threw up her hands in the air. "Hey, I thought I'd come by a little early. Merry Christmas!"

Peach couldn't help but smile. "Merry Christmas to you!" she responded, and stepped aside to let Daisy in. She shivered as the cold air wandered in. "It's good to see you. It's been awhile." as she spoke, she realized she didn't feel particularly like she hadn't seen Daisy for a long time. It had been a couple of months. But, despite the time they had gone without a visit, Peach felt like she had just seen Daisy.

While Daisy took off her gloves and coat, she hurried to the kitchen to see what Peach was making. "Girl, you would not believe the crazy dream I had last night. You were in it, Uncle was in it, and some others…I dreamt that I had already come here." she looked up at the ceiling. The house had hardly changed at all since she had last seen it.

Uncle, Peach hadn't heard from him in ages. The music box sat up in her room. That was the only trace of him that she knew of. She listened with interest as Daisy went on, and she stirred their breakfast on the stove. "Yeah, I dreamed that I came here already, at night. I guess I was just really excited about coming over to surprise you. And I brought someone with me. I don't really remember. But anyway, I came to your house, but it was completely different here. Like a Wonderland or something, but after dark. Creepy, but not. It's hard to explain." Daisy scratched her head, and Peach laughed.

"How strange!" she tilted her head. "I could have sworn I had a similar dream…"

She tried to place her finger on it. The sensation of waking from an immersive dream within a deep sleep would forever confound her. There was an entire world in her head that she couldn't remember at all. She wanted to know what happened, what sort of places she had been to, what sort of people she saw.

But any trace of her dream was gone. Lost to her mind, and only a distant and passing thought could remind her. She supposed she might never find out. She pursed her lips and continued to stir their breakfast.

The doorbell rang again. Peach and Daisy looked at each other.

Peach hadn't been expecting guests. As she walked toward her door, there was a nagging thought in the back of her mind that told her she was missing something. Her Nutcracker. He hadn't been on the shelf. She stopped before the door and shared a glance with Daisy.

Then, with a big breath, she opened the door.

The world of snow blinded her at first. Then, as her eyes focused, she blinked down at the two men on her porch. One bundled up in green, the other in red. Their cheeks and noses were bright red from the cold. She knew their faces. The footsteps leading up to her door came from far down the road. They had come a long way.

"Ah, hello," the man in red said. The man in green breathed on his gloved hands, and rubbed them together. "Ehm, I know this sounds really crazy, but-"

"Mario, Luigi. Come in," Peach said, breathlessly. Daisy nodded in agreement, and they both stepped aside to let the men through the door. "Please, come inside."

Sharing a surprised glance, the brothers smiled, and looked up at the Princesses.

"Thank you," Luigi gave a shy nod to each of them as he came inside. He glanced back at Daisy, before abruptly ducking his head.

Mario's eyes lingered on Peach just before he stepped into the house. "Yes. Merry Christmas," he told them both.

Her dream was coming back to her. Daisy turned around with a grin to follow Luigi, and Peach took in a deep breath. Her heart felt so full that she thought it might burst.

She smiled to herself, and reached to close the door.

O~o~O

**This was a strange little story that I had a lot of fun writing. I wanted to imitate something surreal and on the edge of being cryptic, like a dream. The Mushroom Kingdom really would make a perfect Land of Sweets like in the Nutcracker play, with all the different worlds named after desserts. This is sort of odd timing for a Christmas story, but Magicarnelian's wonderful art got me in the mood to write this crazy thing. Please go check out their art! They have a very soft and unique style that reminds me of a children's storybook.**

**Thanks for reading!**


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